


Scenes From A Cat-Ra AU

by SumDumMuffin



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-08-26 12:24:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16681570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SumDumMuffin/pseuds/SumDumMuffin
Summary: An alternate universe in which Catra wields the sword of protection.





	Scenes From A Cat-Ra AU

**Author's Note:**

> I guarantee no expertise in _He-man and the masters of the universe_ lore, emotional trauma, the role society plays in interpersonal relationships, or friendship.
> 
>    
> So, this may have been done before, (And I really do wanna see fanart of Catra as She-ra, if it exists), since it seems like an obvious AU, and I wanted to explore how the characters might end up if they were put into each others circumstances.

"Please, Catra, if you care about me at all, you'll come back to the Horde," said Adora. She held out her hand towards her best friend.

Catra reined in her tears. "That's- that's what I'm doing this for! _Because_ I care about you!" 

Adora's expression flattened. "You're destroying my tanks and obstructing my mission because you care about me?"

Catra looked around at the clearing they were in, at the front of the village where the rebellion had, with She-Ra’s help, successfully held off a Horde incursion. Broken tanks and scorched craters of terrain and shattered wooden homesteads and gardens. 

Adora refreshed her smile. "They've brainwashed you, Catra-"

"The Horde's brainwashed _you!"_

Adora chucked, forlornly. She leaned back and crossed her arms. "Now you're just repeating everything I say."

Catra grit her teeth. "No- I mean, yes, because, they plan for that-" 

Adora raised an eyebrow. "Really now, they plan for people to be incoherent?" 

"That's what I'm trying to tell you- they've brainwashed all of us into thinking that the Horde is the only way to live."

Adora didn't look convinced. 

Catra continued, "And the rebellion- its, it's better, and kinder- we could be friends _there,_ without the Horde trying to control us, or threatening to kill us-" 

Adora grimaced. "I mean, sure, Shadow Weaver was never the nicest caretaker, but we still had some good times, right?"

Catra grit her teeth. "Well, you would think that, wouldn't you?"

Adora frowned, out of genuine concern. "Is that what this is about? Look, I'm force commander now-"

"Congrats on the promotion, by the way," Catra said. She allowed herself two seconds of a smirk.  
  
Adora winked. "Hey, thanks." Then her serious face returned. " But, since I'm force commander, I can ask that you be transferred to my exclusive custody. You won't have to deal with Shadow Weaver, or any agents of Hordak, or the rest of our squad, or anyone else besides me." Adora tilted her head to the side and made a smile tinged with pity. It was a familiar smile, to Catra. "And we'll get you back on the force, just like it always has been."

Catra glanced at her feet. "I don't think things can ever go back to the way they were."

"Is this because you didn't get your promotion to force captain?" Adora said. She furrowed her brow. "Because you need to have patience, Catra- you'll get there someday-"

"For Hordaks sake- I never cared about that!" Catra lied. Well, sure it was technically a lie, but right now, it was closer to the truth than usual. Like, with the transformation into a giant sword lady, it felt good to be able to be the best at something, for a change. 

And the fact that Glimmer and Bow actually appreciated her effort and ingenuity and abilities went a long way into spuring her defection-

but that wasn't important right now.

Catra's voice cracked. "It's _you_ I care about, Adora. It always has been-"

"Then come back to us-" Adora said, and she held out her hand again. "We can be together, again, in the Horde." 

Catra took a breath before she spoke. 

"But we can't truly be happy in the horde," Catra said. Her voice cracked. 

"We were- we were always competing, because they made us-"

Adora frowned. "You _wanted_ to compete-" 

"I know! And I was wrong-"

Adora put up her hands, "Okay, we can talk about this later- once you come back.

Catra took a breath. "I can't, Adora-" 

"Why not?" 

"I always knew the horde was evil-" 

"We're *not* evil!" Adora said. She put her fists on her hips. 

"But I thought our friendship was strong enough that we could withstand it-" 

"Our friendship is strong enough to withstand anything, Catra," Adora said. She stepped forward. "I still believe that."

Catra swallowed the lump that had been forming in her throat. "I do too," She said, "That in the rebellion lands, we can be free." 

Adora inhaled. Her nose twitched. 

"We can be free anywhere, Catra, as long as we have each other." she said, and there were tears in the corner of her eyes and her voice cracked, " And I have a place here, in the horde, and you do too. If you really valued our friendship above everything, you'd come back with me, just like always-"

And that was the breaking point.

Catra swung her sword at Adora's chest- it'd hit the breastplate if Adora didn't dodge, so it wouldn't do more than knock the wind out of her- but when she swiped at Adora with her claws,  _that_ was intended to hurt.

"Why cant _you_ follow _me_ for once?!" Catra yelled. 

But now they were actually fighting, and the opportunity to talk was gone. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

  
And Catra won. Normally that’d feel good, because of how rare it was that Catra would ever defeat perfect Adora, but today it felt hollow. For obvious reasons, that she really didn't need to elaborate on. 

Catra ducked away and hopped up a series of rocks up to the nearby crag, and she planted the sword of protection blade down, (in a way that seemed cool, but also had some plausible deniability that it _wasn't_ deliberately planted there to seem cool), and she hugged her legs and pressed her face into her knees and allowed herself to cry. It was a familiar feeling, because with the benefit of hindsight and a new perspective, Catra suspected she had slowly been losing Adora over the years, under the relentless assaults on their relationship by Shadow Weaver and the horde structure in general- 

And maybe there'd be a time to dwell on that, but for now, Catra fell back on her familiar coping mechanism of crying, where nobody could see you. 

Off in the distance, Catra could hear Glimmer, Bow, and the rest of the rebellion forces were doing victory things. 

 

 

And a sparkle silhouette heralded Catra's new princess friend's teleportation next to her. Catra was too cool to flinch. 

Glimmer appeared with a concerned expression already on her face, so, maybe Catra hadn't been as good at hiding her feelings after the battle as she thought. 

"Hey~, Catra," Glimmer said. She made a smile. "So, you can cry in public, here in Princess lands, no shame in that. And if you need someone to talk to, well, me and bow are 

"Oh!" Catra said. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Oh, yeah- you said that. But, i don't know, it's, just a habit I guess. And I didn't really feel like talking about it...."

"Well, if you don't want to talk about, what happened, that's also fine," Glimmer said.

Catra opened her mouth to tell Glimmer what it was she wanted-

-but no words came out, because she _didn't_ know what she wanted, let alone how to phrase it.

"But, anyway, you should celebrate with us!" Glimmer said. She stood up and held out her hand. "We can just forget about, you know- since we won!"

"Oh? Oh, yeah, I guess we did...."

Glimmer tilted her head to the side. "You don't think of it as a victory...?" 

Catra exhaled, exhaustively. "Listen, i was clear when i started up, princess," Catra said. She turned her head to face Glimmer, "I'm not in this for your revolution." 

Glimmer smushed her mouth together and she brought her fist to her mouth, but she said nothing.

"Honestly, I wonder if you guys can actually win this thing." Catra saw Glimmers expression and backtracked. "Don't get me wrong- As long as I got the magic sword, I'll do the whole princess savior thing. But my first priority is Adora." 

Glimmer nodded, slowly. "Of course~," She said, unconvincingly. "I mean, we'll, take what we can get..." 

 Catra nodded. "Did, i mention Adora much, since i got here?

"Maybe once or twice," Glimmer lied. One downside of growing up in a culture that valued emotional honesty, Catra had quickly gathered, is that you ended up not being able to lie convincingly.  

Catra narrowed her eyes

Glimmer put her hands up. "Okay, fine, that was one of the times i was lying to spare your feelings," Glimmer said, "You've mentioned her a lot, but always in passing, so i've mostly been having to pick

Catra scrunched her mouth to the side. "Yeah, that sounds right." 

"Soooo," Glimmer said. he was your best friend, right?"

Catra looked out into the horizon. "Yeah, something like that." She said.

Catra was silent for a few moments. Glimmer let her find her words. 

"She was everything to me," Catra said.

Glimmer nodded, but didn't say anything. 

Catra leaned back. "I always knew the horde was evil. Maybe not 'destroy the planet' evil, but I knew it couldn't possibly be the best version of a society, and maybe, I just got unlucky with Shadow Weaver as my caretaker." 

Catra pontificated with her free hand. "Like, Kyle's assigned childhood caretaker was a total wuss. he grew up weak, but he didn't have the same crushing sense of internalized failure as me, I don't think." 

"You don't think?" 

"I mean, i don't think he did," Catra said, "We never really talked, because, Horde culture." 

Glimmer shot her a sympathetic look. "That's rough."

"And, that was the same with Adora, only we were close enough that sometimes, maybe, we could, like," Catra pontificated as she tried to find the word, "be there for each other. And I really- I really needed that, growing up." 

"Well, that sucks," Glimmer said, "And I truly hope we can win her over." 

Catra didn't say anything. She continued looking into the middle distance. 

"But that day wasn't today, " Glimmer said. She stood up and patted off her knees. "And it's okay for you to feel bad. And i'm not going to stop you from moping if that's what you wanna do."

"So, why don't you join us for the party, and maybe you can tell us about Adora? Maybe that will help you feel better?" 

Catra exhaled and stood up. "Yeah, I think I can do that." 

"Hey Bow," Glimmer said, behind her. Catra turned around to see Bow leaning against a nearby rock, "Catra's finally going to tell us about her ex-"

Glimmer glanced at Catra and made a grimace. 

Catra was too exhausted to shoot her a sly remark

"-best friend," Glimmer said.

And Catra didn't offer a correction. 

 

 

 

* * *

 

Adora did her debriefing with her usual professionalism. For the first time in her life, though, she had to try to keep her back straight and her voice steady 

And perhaps she wasn't as composed as she thought she was, because Shadow Weaver put a hand on her shoulder right before Adora exited the room. 

“She was always a bad influence on you," Shadow Weaver said, "Forget about her; now, you can reach your full potential." 

Adora kept her face straight. “Of course, Shadow Weaver.”

 

 

And Adora made her way back to her barracks. She did have to pass the rest of her squad, but they were otherwise preoccupied, so they weren't there to see Adora's nose randomly start twitching uncontrollably, or her ball her fists. 

And Adora tried not to make eye contact with people

and she did have to overhear them badmouthing her best friend. 

“- good riddence to her, right?-" 

“- She never belonged here. Not really-" 

“- she always thought she was better than us, of course she’d defect- “

And Adora marched more quickly, to be alone. 

Luckily she was the only in the barrack, but she still hid her face in her pillow to try to get herself to calm down. 

Normally she'd, maybe sound some of the more socially-acceptable stuff out with Catra, or even possibly Shadow Weaver, but neither of those were an option now, haha. 

Adora took a breath.

Catra was always difficult. So much so that she never got along with their squad-mates. And of course Shadow Weaver wasn’t going to like Catra if she kept acting out.

And the latest in a long line of making things harder for herself was defecting to the rebellion. And getting some kind of first one's tech that turned her into a giant sword lady 

Maybe this was another one of Catra's weird little games- she had such a hard time being honest. (Maybe it was a cat thing.?)

Like, did Catra want Adora to chase after her? Adora would do it, regardless, but if Catra just needed some time alone to like, 

Catra had a hard time being honest, and she always made things harder for herself.

But that was why Adora was there to look out for her. And Adora was fine with that. She kind of liked being Catra's savior. 

Adora shuffled through her small box of personal belonging, until she pulled out an old drawing of the two of them. It was crude and weathered, but the feelings were earnest. Catra would make fun of her if she found out Adora had kept it, and the Horde would give her the side eye for succumbing to materialism, but it was one of Adora's most precious possessions. 

They had promised, when they were little, to look out for each other.

And if Catra needed a little more looking out, well, 

Adora hugged the drawing to her chest.

“I will never give up on you, Catra,” Adora whispered. “Whatever it takes. I’ll bring you home.”

 

 

* * *

 

  
Glimmer teleported Catra over to an outdoor table, where the victorious rebels were celebrating with food and raucous idolatry. Catra slumped her head onto the table while Bow and Glimmer got plates of food for the three of them.

"Hey, forget about her," Bow said, as he started stabbing lettuce onto a salad fork. "She doesn't deserve you, anyway."

Catra inhaled, and she exhaled and she opened her eyes into a glare at her new friend.

"Bow, you have been kind to me, and I value you as a person," Catra said, "But don't you _dare_ insult Adora like that ever again."

Bow put his hands up. "Woah, okay, my bad. I'm sorry. It's clear she means a lot to you, and I never intended to devalue your relationship." 

Catra sighed and slumped her head down on the table. "She does. And, for the record, it's  _me_ that doesn't deserve _her."_

Bow looked sympathetic. "Hey, don't sell yourself short, Catra," He said,  "I mean, sure, she's still a part of the horde, and she's a force captain, which means that she'll be leading raids against us until she defects-"

Glimmer waved her arms frantically, and Bow coughed.

"But!" Bow continued, "The fact that you were able to see through the Horde's ideology means that you have at least some moral compass

Glimmer smiled through her teeth and glanced behind her. "Arguably better than Adora's- which, technically, isn't an insult, and you can just interpret that as her being misguided" -

Bow nodded and smiled, "But you're totally worth her, if you're worry about that." 

Catra allowed herself a smile. "Thanks." 

 

 

"Anyway, serious talk," Glimmer said, "Of course, your first priority is your friend, but~" she pontificated, "but, what, do you think you'll do in the meantime with the whole 'being She-ra' thing?" Glimmer made a smile and poked her fingers together. "Cause the princess alliance could  _really_ use your help..." 

Catra slumped herself upright and looked into the horizon for three more seconds to compose her thoughts. "I don't know if the horde can be eliminated. They're good at keeping people under control, 

Glimmer nodded, slighlty, expectantly.

"But if Adora's too stuck in with them for me to pull her out," Catra said, "Then I'll just have to bring the whole Horde down."

Glimmer and Bow shared a look, and then a grin.

"Works for us."


End file.
